For years I used my trusty VW Jetta as a quasi-truck. I could fit almost a full sheet of plywood in through the trunk, up and over the front seats... That looked pretty funny. But it was a poor truck in the end

What I really needed (and don't we all?) was a pickup truck that I could use to drive around in drinking Budweisers, shooting my shotgun and yellin yeee-haw! (Stereotypical American right?)


My New Truck

I like it and I'll use it to trailer my La Bala, advertise my company and carry supplies to and from the shop.

I was out in Omaha, NE last November, and there were a few farmer types who fitted your decription perfectly!!

You mean you didnt buy the Dodge Ram 3500 super duty Hemi double axle??

Tut, tut!

Ed.

Steve,

Very smart - when I was in the Us in 99, I saw the Dakota and was quite taken with it - including the price (fully loaded).

While it was small for a ute, it would still dwarf most things in this country, including the roads

ATB

Simon

I hear you about the size issue. USA a Biiig country and has big roads. But so many of the vehicles I see on the road with one person inside are ridiculous. What are these people compensating for?!

I have been in UK and Europe and those big American vehicles would be hard to drive there.

The truck I bought is a WT (Work Truck) Chevy Silverado with crank-up windows, no power locks, a standard cab and no carpet. Basic, basic. It also has the v6 which gets 22-26mpg. It's the smallest full-size truck you can buy here. But perfect for me IMHO.

I had 2 requirements. It had to fit in my 17' long garage space and had to carry 3 adults with seatbelts.

Have you got a gun rack in the cab?

Steve
Congrtulations!

We are looking at trucks too. The problem is that we have a little girl that is almost 3 yo. My Wife REALLY wants a truck (I can see the utility in that, but I have some questions)

Where do you put the car seat? in the Middle? Does She really NEED a crew cab? She doesn't want a V-8 (bless her frugal green heart) but she wants a 4-5 or 6 cylinder truck. I am having a hard time finding a vehicle that fits all of our requirements and a potentailly growing family.

Chevy Colrado, GMC Canyon, and Nissan Frontier are the closest I could find that fit our needs.
(This process is like pulling teeth for me...I would rather visit the dentist. If I can I will wait until July when the 06's are dumped to make way for the 07's.)

Any imput would be appreciated I will post on the American site to get their imput too...)

http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=5080#5080



[Edited on 17/5/06 by dl_peabody]

Hey Steve,
You gotta have a gunrack in the rear window as well,and don't forget the sunburnt neck. :

Syd.

Is it still illegal to shoot buffalo from a moving vehicle in Arizona ? Get yourself a crewcab truck so you can fit everyone in it.

I don't think it's illegal to shoot ANYTHING if you are doing it from inside an American Truck. The gunrack is an upgrade option. I will have to design an build my own. Any plans out there, or do I really have to build from scratch?

The standard cab Silverado fits three across the bench. This allowed me to get a truck short enought to fit in my garage and still keep a workbench at the front. The bench seat has a center lap belt. Also, with the fold-down center bench in mine, I see on the rear wall a bracket designed specifically for child safety seats. You should look into that. Maybe some of the others do that too. But I think the smaller trucks aren't designed to hold a 3rd passenger in the middle seat.

Tell you I sure miss my old 85 f150. It had around 300,000 on it when I got it and I drove it 5 more years. Best vehicle I ever owned. Only option on it was the sliding rear window so you throw your take out wrappers in the back . 300 ci straight six about 10 hp and 1000 ft torque. honestly you could dump the clutch at an idle and it just jump lurch and get on with moving away.
I looked into buying a new truck from the dealers /ford gm dodge and no one would sell you a plain jane truck with no options. They only wanted to sell you full leather AC 4 door trucks for 40+ grand.
Wish I had never gotten rid of it.
Dale